Slice of Life
by Yasue
Summary: Mio and Ritsu look back their past to help them with their future. Lame summary, will change later.
1. Walk

Hey there!

I know the title's pretty lame but I can't think of any other atm _ If you have any suggestions, feel free to tell me :D  
Not sure if I'll continue Trance since it seems like I have more notes for this fanfic about Mio and Ritsu.  
I hope you enjoy this!  
Reviews are welcome~

P.S. Time frame is Winter of their 2nd year.

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**Slice of Life**

_Chapter 1: Walk_

Just like always, Ritsu waited outside Mio's house on her way to school. They always walked together to Sakuragaoka; neither Ritsu nor Mio have any memory of not ever going to school together.

"Mioooooooooooooooooooo-chan!" Ritsu shouted at the top of her lungs. She was getting impatient at Mio's lateness.

A voice above yelled.

"_Urusai_!" Mio started walking downstairs to meet Ritsu. When Mio opened the front door, she found a rather annoyed-looking Ritsu standing.

"You're unusually late," Ritsu grumpily said as both girls started walking down the road.

"I was fixing myself," Mio said, a streak of red visible over her porcelain face. The statement prompted Ritsu to look at Mio's direction. Ritsu scanned the latter's body with scrutinizing eyes. Mio's school uniform was ironed out, her street shoes clean, and her long flowing black hair nicely combed. To top it all, her best friend smelled really nice, like vanilla.

"I don't see anything that needs fixing," Ritsu bluntly said. Mio sighed.

_Of course… I already 'fixed' myself._

Ritsu scanned her friend once more; Mio felt really uneasy. This time, Ritsu noticed something different of Mio's appearance. Spotting the change, she jumped back, her index finger pointing at Mio, accusingly.

"No way! You tied your hair up!" Ritsu loudly said.

"You just barely noticed…" Mio muttered. "And stop talking so loudly!" Mio was unable to restrain herself.

"You're talking loudly yourself," Ritsu pointed out. "Yelling, in fact," she added. Mio decided not to retort back; she knew full well that the conversation would only turn more trivial than it is now.

After a few more minutes of silent walking, Mio decided to break the silence.

"You don't like it?" Mio asked, her finger uneasily twiddling with the ends of her blue scarf. Mio did not need to finish her sentence: Ritsu and herself have been friends for such a long time that they could almost tell what the other was thinking.

Ritsu kindly smiled at her friend and replied, "Actually, you look pretty either way. Its just that I'm used to your hair down. And I think I like it down better."

"Oh," Mio said. An awkward silence followed.

"So, tell me. Why did you tie up your hair? Is it a boy?" Ritsu teasingly asked, poking Mio's slightly warm cheek with her ungloved fingers.

A nerve was now visible on Mio's forehead. "No," Mio finally answered.

"Now that I think about it, you've never had a boyfriend have you?"

Another nerve had joined the first. Ritsu smirked at the slight change in Mio's features.

"Do you want me to have one?" Mio said as she turned to face Ritsu, her left eyebrow raised.

Ritsu was caught off guard by the question. What are you supposed to answer your friend when she asks you a question like that? She didn't exactly know what to answer. She simply placed her now cold hands deep into her skirt's pockets and shrugged.

Mio looked at Ritsu in amusement and annoyance. As how she judged it, her best friend didn't really care.

The two walked in silence some more until Sakuragaoka's highest point was in view.

"Hey," Ritsu said.

"Hn?"

"Its been ten years since we first met each other," Ritsu said. She remembered. Mio's face lit up and Ritsu slung her arm around Mio's neck. "So, how about you help me with Math homework to commemorate this event?" _She just had to ruin it… _Mio thought.

"No," Mio sternly said, removing Ritsu's arm from her neck and increasing her pace.

"Aww, come on! What better way to celebrate the tenth anniversary of being with your best friend than helping her with her homework?" Ritsu almost ran to catch up to Mio.

"If I keep helping you with your homework, how will you survive without me in college?" Mio said. "I'm doing this for your sake," she added.

"But we're going to the same college," Ritsu stated. "Whatever college you'll apply to, I'll apply there too! If you end up in another college as I, I'll fail and become a beggar on the streets…" Ritsu dramatically addressed. This was the only way she could think of to persuade Mio to help her with her homework.

Mio didn't want Ritsu to end up like that, of course. But how would Ritsu ever learn? _It's not like she's stupid… She's just really lazy._ Mio pressed her hand against her face at this thought. "How do you know you'll pass to the same college as I?"

"Because you'll help me," Ritsu said. "You won't let me roam the streets, right?"

"No," Mio said. She _wouldn't_ let Ritsu roam the streets. She cared too much.

Ritsu grinned at Mio. She knew it. She was sure of it.

"Just kidding. I already copied from Mugi so I don't need your help," Ritsu smiled at Mio.

The thought of Ritsu going to Mugi for help instead, made Mio feel lonely.

"What's wrong?" Ritsu concernedly asked. She didn't fail to see the hint of sadness in Mio's face. By this time, they were on Sakuragaoka's grounds.

"It's nothing," she assured her friend. If she told Ritsu why, the brunette would only tease her.

Ritsu didn't let it pass. "Say, want to skip club activities today and come with me to the cake shop in front of the station?" Ritsu asked. "My treat," she added.

Mio smiled a genuine smile and nodded.

They reached the front door of class 2-1 and Mio was about to open the door when Ritsu pulled her around and hugged her for the shortest time. It was only very short but that was enough to make Mio's face turn as red as tomatoes.

"For our tenth year," Ritsu grinned. She turned around, and ran up the stairs to her classroom. Mio looked at the staircase, frozen on the spot.

Mio was pulled out of her frozen state when a familiar air headed friend bumped into her.

"Ah! Mio-chan! _Gomen_! I was thinking of what sweets we will have today and I didn't notice where I was going," Yui apologized, her hand rubbing the back of her head whilst doing so.

"That's okay," the taller girl smiled. "By the way, Ritsu and I won't be able to attend practice today," Mio added.

"Oh… I'll tell Mugi-chan and Azu-nyan then," Yui said. She waved bye to Mio and continued walking to her classroom.

Before going into her classroom, Mio pulled off the ribbon that was holding her hair up and placed it in her left pocket.

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A couple of the scenes in this fanfic were taken out of events in my life. Some of them happened between me and my best friend like the one when Mio asked Ritsu about the having boyfriend thing, instead my best friend asked me if I wanted her to kiss her boyfriend then. Haha. And yes, I'm speaking through Ritsu. I was more the happy go lucky one :P Hopefully, I'll be updating faster on this fanfic than my previous ones…


	2. Fork

**Slice of Life**

_Chapter 2: Fork_

"This line is so long," the shorter girl complained as she looked at the seemingly endless line of people in front of her. Her right foot was tapping impatiently but rhythmically.

"You chose this place. Why did you choose it, anyway?" The taller girl, Mio, asked her impatient best friend.

"We eat too much at Max Burgers. And this is your favorite cake shop, isn't it?" Ritsu responded, turning her head towards Mio's direction. Mio nodded and smiled. This was Ritsu. Her best friend could make her cry a river, but she could also make her smile like a sunshine.

x||x||x||x

Tainaka Ritsu was undeniably right. The line was so long that the two best friends had to wait for over half an hour just to order a cake.

The two settled on one of the high tables by the cake shop's window. Mio was relishing her chocolate cake while Ritsu watched her. This wasn't Ritsu. On any other day, the chestnut-haired girl would be devouring three different kinds of cake and Mio would have a strawberry tart. The latter could only look across the table and watch at her friend with curious eyes.

"Is there something on my face?" Ritsu asked.

"I should be the one asking that," Mio retorted.

Mio could only make out a small noise coming out of her best friend in response.

"Why didn't you order a dozen cakes?"

"Not hungry."

"Is it that or because you did not have enough money?"

"Fine, I only had enough money to buy you a cake," Ritsu finally gave in. "I bought a new pair of Zildjian maple drumsticks yesterday and I couldn't resist buying a new bass drum beater."

Mio looked at her with a raised left eyebrow. She felt happy of course that Ritsu spared herself – her sweets loving self – just to buy her a chocolate cake. However, it still made her feel bad that she had denied Ritsu a chance of sweets. Unable to think of anything else to make her best friend – and herself – feel better, she offered, "Hey, you can eat some of mine, just go get a fork."

"Really?! And no I'm fine. I don't need a fork!" Ritsu flashed that loopy grin. Mio, on the other hand, was completely befuddled as to how Ritsu would eat some of her cake without the use of a fork.

Before the raven-haired girl knew it, Ritsu had took hold of the fork that was once on her left hand and carved a not too small piece of chocolate cake using the said fork. Ritsu brought the fork to her mouth and ate the chocolate cake off of it, licking the utensil for any icing that may have been left over. Mio had been turning a bright shade of crimson.

"What's wrong with you?" Ritsu innocently asked while handing back Mio her fork. "You look like you're getting sick."

"Y-You just ate with m-my fork," Mio stuttered out.

"And?"

"I-Indirect k-k-k-kiss," the raven-haired girl couldn't believe how she managed to blurt those two words out.

"And?"

"What do you mean and?!"

"So what? We kissed when everyone else was asleep during the past summer camp. Eating off of the same fork – hell, utensil – should be more or less the same right?" Ritsu reasoned.

"T-That kiss was accidental! You idiot tripped on your drumsticks and landed on me! And our lips were dry!"

Ritsu only shrugged. Mio was in disbelief.

"You're overreacting," the shorter girl was standing up now. "I'm fetching you another fork so you don't have to use that one."

Ritsu came back shortly after with a fork in hand. She handed Mio the fork and sat down her high chair. She observed her best friend was much the same before the incident now.

"Why did you have to react like that? Besides, it was I who used the fork after. Unless you licked it while I was gone," Ritsu said.

"Don't say things like that. I. Well. I. I just want my personal space… And it means a lot to me sharing those kinds of things with another person."

It only made sense. The overly romantic Mio would only want a special someone to share her lips, her utensils, her attention, her affection… That someone wasn't Tainaka Ritsu.

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I apologize for the late update! The original chapter two of this story was stored in one of my school's computers. And as luck would have it, there's no internet for that computer lab (it's a "testing center") and they disconnected the printer so that it would be used by the other lab next to it. The second revision was just pure... Unreadable. The third one was entirely different which I figured may be used for the third chapter. This is the fourth revision and is most like the original and second revision.

I'll try updating sooner next time!


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